


Learn To Love

by FlyRobinFly



Series: Learning To Love [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Liam Dunbar, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angry Liam Dunbar, Angst, Fights, Fluff, Getting Together, Getting to Know Each Other, Good Theo Raeken, Hurt Theo Raeken, Love, M/M, Protective Liam Dunbar, Theo Raeken Needs a Hug, Wolf Theo Raeken, starting slow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-04
Updated: 2018-07-04
Packaged: 2019-06-05 02:22:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15160328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlyRobinFly/pseuds/FlyRobinFly
Summary: Theo and Liam have to work things out before the new alpha of Beacon Hills arrives.





	Learn To Love

There he lay, in the back of his truck. He'd been trying to leave town and save his own ass but Scott called and told him that Liam needed help. He shouldn't have turned around. But he did. All for that stupid beta.

And maybe he also cared about the well being of some other people as well but it was hard enough for him to admit he was drawn towards Scott's beta. Something about Liam was appealing to him. He couldn't place a finger on what it was but it was there. Afterall, he did save Liam's ass for no apparent reason's a few times and he also carried his unconscious ass to his truck in the zoo with about a dozen hunters after him. He wasn't sure how he managed to have both of them alive by the time he was done.

All this... he thought it was what the pack wanted. He thought he'd done the right thing. He even took away Gabe's pain when he was dying. He thought the pack would at least talk to him. He tried to talk to Liam but only got pushed away... literally. Theo just left after that, took the elevator to the main floor, got in his truck, and drove away.

He parked on the preserve and turned on the light inside of his truck. He had to get the bullet out but he couldn't reach it. He tried for an hour before he gave up. He looked down at his phone and scrolled through the contacts. Every one of them he was afraid to ask for help. So he didn't.

But someone found him. Derek. He should've known better. The preserve was Derek's territory. He'd've been caught eventually. Theo startled at the tap on his window. Derek.

Theo wasn't sure if he should be relieved or scared for his life. But the look on Derek's face didn't seem like a threatening one. So he opened the door and got out, standing in front of Derek. They shared brief eye contact, Theo knew he was being scented. "Where's the wound?"

Theo didn't even know how to respond. Most of the pain was in his heart, not his shoulder where he'd been shot. Derek raised his eyebrows in hopes of him answering him. Theo weakly tapped his shoulder. "Gunshot."

"S'not healing?"

Theo shook his head.

"Is the bullet still in there?"

Theo felt like a little kid who did something wrong and he didn't even know why. He felt nothing but hurt, guilt, and shame. And fear. He was definitely still afraid even though the Anuk-Ite was dead. He was always afraid. "I can't reach it..."

"Why didn't you ask for help?"

"I..."

Derek stepped around to look at Theo's shoulder. "This is gonna hurt, alright?"

Theo nodded. "It's OK." He was talking to himself more than Derek. Because he knew he deserved the pain. But when Derek dug his fingers into his shoulder, all he could feel was that familiar pain of flesh tearing apart inward towards his heart to rip it out. He just told himself it was what he deserved. Pain.

It only took a second, but Derek pulled out the bullet. "That's it. It's out." He let out a breath of relief and smiled at Theo.

Theo was starring off with a haunted look on his face. "It's OK. You don't have to stop," he said choked with tears in his eyes. "You don't have to stop."

Derek's smile faded and he touched Theo's arm, draining the pain from him. He watched Theo's wound to see if it healed but it wouldn't. Theo wasn't letting it. So he put Theo in his truck and drove him to see the pack. They were all still up, taking care of loose ends and cleaning any wounds they had.

Theo hated being there too. Every time he looked at Liam he felt sick and ashamed and would look away. He probably looked like he was pissed at Liam. And he kind of was. Sure the two of them had hit each other a lot but he thought there was something there, a bond, a friendship. Or at least he hoped there was.

The pack was mostly silent, just enjoying the peace they had now. And everything was peaceful except for the giant elephant in the room that everyone noticed. Afterall, they were a pack. They could sense the tension seeping off of Theo, the nervousness... the tiredness. And they could tell Liam was worried about him. In turn, that worried everyone else in the pack.

Theo kept glancing at the door like he just wanted to leave. But Derek tentatively stepped in front of the door. Taking a look at the rest of the pack he noticed they were all staring at him knowingly like he'd done something wrong. He slowly backed away feeling the panic rise in his chest. He frantically searched every person in the room for that sword, already feeling like something was trying to pull out his heart.

In the midst of his panic, he felt a hand on his elbow. He jerked his head to the side to see Liam, a worried look on his face. "Theo, it's alright. It's over." Liam tried to calm him but with the whole pack staring, Theo was still too tense. So he pulled him towards Scott's back porch. "Look, I'm sorry I lashed out at you earlier. I was just upset."

Theo glared at him. "Why? I thought I was doing the right thing."

Liam squeezed both of his hands. "You did, Theo. You did an amazing thing. It's just... it made me jealous and my IED took over. I know I should've been there for you when it was all over but I just lost control.-"

"Jealous?"

Liam sighed sadly. "Because I tried to take Brett and Lori's pain when they were dying but... I couldn't." Liam's voice wavered and his eyes filled with tears. "I was too late."

Theo's chest clenched and he practically begged Liam. "I'm sorry," he said like it was his fault.

Liam shook his head. "It's not your fault. I just got angry at the wrong time."

"Is there really a right time to get angry?" Theo asked in a deep, almost bitter voice.

Liam nodded. "Yeah. Cause with me it's inevitable. I just have to make sure I only do it when you're..."

Theo took a deep breath and sighed. "Not being emotional. Yeah." He swallowed. His anxiety was leaving now and he was starting to feel better. "I guess I can only talk you out of it using logic, huh?"

Liam nodded. "And that's not to say that you can't ever be emotional. It's just that... if you and I are gonna rely on each other in..." Liam cleared his throat uncomfortably. "That way, we need to remember that sometimes this will happen. Sometimes we're gonna be upset at the same time and-"

"That way?"

"You know..." Liam blushed and tensed. "Like how Stiles has Lydia to pulling him out of panic attacks and how Malia and Scott have each other."

Theo pulled his hands out of Liam suddenly very uncomfortable. "Are you saying you want us to date?"

"What?! No," said Liam defensively. "I was trying to say that I think you're my anchor and I want to be yours too!" Liam lashed out angrily.

Theo pressed his lips together looking at Liam with those confused doe eyes he had when they were in the elevator earlier that day. Anchor? "What does that even mean?"

"It means when I'm angry you do that thing where you make it go away," explained Liam as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

Theo raised an eyebrow. "Well, it's not exactly easy getting you to calm down. I'm not gonna knock you unconscious and carry you around lick a dead ass weight all the time."

"I'm not asking you to knock me out every time I get angry," Liam said raising his voice. "I'm asking you to talk me out of it. Like when I almost killed Gabe-"

"You weren't actually going to kill him," Theo said as if it were an excuse. "Besides, he ended up dead anyway."

Liam reeled his arm back and punched Theo right in the nose. "And that's where my job comes in. Punching you in the face when you're being an ass."

Theo held his jaw and shook his head frowning. "Well, I think it's safe to say that, as much as I love it when you punch me in the face, I don't want that."

Liam let out a frustrated growl and shoved Theo on the shoulder. "Dammit, Theo. Why are you so damn aggravating?!"

Theo shoved him back, not happy with the way he was getting in his space. "There's another reason this wouldn't work out. I make you angry! I'm not your anchor, Liam! I'm your trigger! And, you know what, you're mine too! I don't know what the hell it is about you but you always make me do crazy shit trying to save your life. I don't think logically when I'm around you! It's all this emotional crap you've been going on about! I can't be your anchor because you need logic when you're angry and when I'm around you I don't have that!"

Liam bit his tongue glaring at Theo for a moment before looking away and biting his lip. He tried not to let his anger get the best of him. "Fine. I guess I was just wrong then."

Theo took another step back, feeling like he didn't have to be all defensive anymore like maybe Liam was listening to reason.

"But only about one thing," said Liam. They looked at each other, Theo with aggravated confusion and Liam with determination. Damn, he was so Scott's beta sometimes. Liam grabbed Theo by the collar of his shirt and pulled on it. "I think we're a hell of a lot more like Lydia and Stiles and Scott and Malia than we care to admit."

Theo's big doe eyes were back, his wolf was back. His Coyote had just been there, shouting and being an asshole like always. His Coyote hated his wolf though and would purposefully suppress him. Cause Coyotes hate wolves, don't they? But recently, Theo's wolf had fought to the surface. Thought dark, glassy doe eyes belonged to him. "Then why did you say we weren't?"

Liam shook his head. "Because before I can let myself love you like that, you need to learn to love yourself." Theo lowered his head to touch their foreheads. "I can tell the difference, you know?"

Theo swallowed. "What?"

"I can tell the difference between your wolf and your coyote," said Liam. "You think there's something wrong with both of them but you know what I think?" Theo leaned into Liam touch as he caressed his face, his wolf soaking up the affection bashfully. "I think they're both beautiful. Sure your coyote can be an asshole but you wouldn't be you without him."

This time Theo spoke in a quiet, tentative voice. "I don't think I can learn to love myself unless you show me how, Liam."

Liam smiled. "We'll just take it slow."

"Maybe keep it between us for now?" Theo asked nervously, eyes still closed breathing in Liam's scent.

Liam nodded. "That's part of taking it slow. Just us for now. We'll tell the pack when we're ready."

Theo pulled back and let out a sigh. "Or when they're ready," Theo reminded Liam with a grin on his face. This would be a hard one to explain. The pack wasn't particularly fond of Theo but they weren't trying to kill him anymore or send him to hell that he knew of. And at least now he had Liam to defend him since it seemed he couldn't defend himself when he was around the pack.

"They're probably worried about us," said Liam. "We should go back inside."

"Yeah," said Theo. "Um... so what do we do now?"

Liam smiled. "Just don't get into too much detail if they ask what we talked about. And if anyone asks, you're my ride home tonight." Liam found Theo grinning at him with this knowing look. "What?"

Theo walked towards the door. "Keep this up and you're gonna be the next true alpha in Beacon Hills." He opened the door and motioned for Liam to go in.

Liam got an evil look in his eye. "Ladies first."

Theo's Coyote resurfaced and glared. He grabbed Liam by the arm and shoved him inside. "You think you're so funny." When they entered the room, everyone was staring at them again. Theo huffed. "Can't we all just go home and get some sleep already?!"

Scott stood up abruptly. "I agree. I think we all need to rest. We'll meet up soon and talk about stuff later. Theo, if you want you can stay-"

"He's giving me a ride home," Liam interrupted.

"I can give you a ride home," said Mason raising his hand but he lowered it when Liam glared at him. "Or not."

"He stays where I say he stays," Liam said glaring at Scott. "He's my responsibility, remember?"

Theo's eyes widened at how Liam was suddenly so defensive of him. Maybe Liam would be the next alpha sooner than he thought. Did that make him Liam's beta?  All it took was the thought of being Liam's beta to see the alpha inside of the other boy. Theo was so surprised that he didn't even notice the tension in the room.

Everyone was staring at Liam, who was fuming at Scott. And it wasn't like before. It wasn't his IED either. It was something inside of him wanting to be let out. Scott swallowed. "Liam. Calm down. I was just offering. I didn't know you had made plans. I'm sorry."

Theo smacked Liam elbow with the back of his hand discretely and Liam's head jerked in his direction. Theo gave him this look, the "What the hell are you doing?" look. Liam slumped his shoulders. "Me too," Liam said rubbing the back of his neck.

"I think Liam's just tired like the rest of us. I'll get him home," Theo promised Scott taking the beta's elbow. They left the McCall house and entered Theo's truck. Theo did as he had promised. He drove Liam to his home. He didn't know why he listened so willingly but he went inside with him as well. He was met with some very worried looking parents that hugged Liam till he was begging to be let go. The sight made Theo want to laugh but he was too tired.

"Mom, Dad, this is my friend, Theo," said Liam. "We've, uh, had a bit of a rough night and... he needs a place to stay-"

"Actually," Theo started when he realized what Liam was doing. Liam shushed him and explained a few things to his parents, all white lies. Or just full blown lies. Theo couldn't believe Liam hadn't told them he was a werewolf yet. Liam's mother was very kind. She made sure they both went to bed with food in their bellies and that they showered and had clean clothes.

Theo watched Liam get ready for bed from the doorway by the hall. He never thought he'd ever have the luxury of just admiring someone without having to hide it. Liam must've felt him watching and turned his head. "Hey," he said.

Theo smiled. "Hi."

"So um..." Liam looked to his bed. "You get first choice of where to sleep. If you want, you can sleep on my bed. Or on the couch downstairs. Or on the floor next to my bed."

Theo looked at the bed and practically drooled. He hadn't slept on an actual bed in what felt like years. "We can share," said Theo climbing under the covers. Liam didn't protest or hesitate. As soon as they hit the pillows, they were conked out. Whatever this was between them, it was just the start. The beginning of a new era, a new story where Liam would be the next true alpha in Beacon Hills going on all of his adventures with Theo like Scott had with Stiles. Except there might be a little more to Liam and Theo and best friends.

**Author's Note:**

> So I just kinda spit this out on the keyboard. I guess it's like abstract art. I just let it flow where it wanted to. I feel like it would be a good start to a series but I don't have what it takes to write a series. So if someone wants to, they can take this and run. Just let me know cause I want to read it. I just like the idea of Theo and Liam taking it really slow and not telling anyone for a really long time. I'm just not good enough at details and don't have the patience to right multiple chapters.
> 
> Thanks. Hope you liked it.


End file.
